Agencies in big push to save odd critters

SANTO DOMINGO. – The Environment Ministry, the Hispaniola Ornithological Society, the National Zoo and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT), through the UK Darwin Initiative, launched a project to protect and Solenodonte, and the Hutia, of the same genus, both endemic to Hispaniola and endangered.

The Jaragua Group, The Nature Conservancy, the Samana Bay and Environs Conservation Center (CEBSE), the Punta Cana Ecological Foundation and the farmers’ movement MCCQ will take part in the two-day activity, among other organizations.

The event aims to draw up a plan to ensure both species’ long term survival, prioritizing the threats against them. The Solenodonte, is an anteater-type mammal, while the Hutia resembles a groundhog,

Both species currently coexist in the Massif la Hotte and Massif de la Selle in the west of Haiti, and in Sierra Bahoruco, and the National parks Jaragua, Los Haitises, of the East, Punta Cana, among other areas in Dominican Republic.